


The Albatross and Her Flock

by smartalec121



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Canon Compliant up to Volume 7 otherwise, Post-Canon, Qrow is Ruby's father, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2020-09-23 14:35:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20341717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smartalec121/pseuds/smartalec121
Summary: Six years after fate first threw them together, Team RWBY is assigned a mission, one with immensely personal stakes for some of its members. With Salem gone and magic with her, what could possibly challenge Beacon's most deadly huntresses? The answer is family, and all the burdens that come with it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. This is a nonprofit, fan-based story. Please support the official release.

Ruby Rose's head was throbbing.

Adding insult to injury was the fact that she wasn't one hundred percent positive what the source of the headache was. She remembered an explosion and an impact, but couldn't remember if she had actually landed on her head when she hit the ground. The whiskey could also have been the culprit.

_Is it even possible to be hungover before you actually go to sleep? _Ruby wondered as she examined her surroundings.

She was handcuffed to a table in an interrogation room with her back to the entrance, though this wasn't news to her. Among the memories she did have was being arrested and brought here. Standing across from her were two officers whose faces she recognized but couldn't think of their names for the life in her. Not exactly an uncommon notion, being a huntress who occasionally had to liaise with Vale's police department.

Still, there were some gaps that Ruby very much wanted to have filled. Up to this point, the officers' voices had been background noise to her, so she started to listen and let their rambling jog her memories of the night's events.

* * *

She recalled finding herself with a predicament due to limited funds. As a huntress, she needed to maintain her equipment for her next mission. As a person trying to live her life in between said missions, she needed her coping mechanism.

Ruby ended up compromising: cheap booze followed by a trip to the nearest dust store to see what was on sale. The first part of the plan went off without a hitch, but hit a _small_ snag when time came for the second.

She remembered being drawn in by glowing sign above _From Dust Til Dawn_'s entrance, but pausing briefly at the sight of three armed thugs holding up the store owner. While Ruby had not been expecting this tonight, it was not really a surprise in the grand scheme of things.

As was often the case, peacetime usually came hand-and-hand with a lot of the old world's problems. Before Salem, magic was not a widely known about commodity. It would never really get a chance to become one either. The witch's defeat had resulted in Remnant losing its magic. That meant no more mystical artifacts, no more Maidens, and no more mysterious shape-shifting powers.

Of course, the end result of that was dust being as valuable as ever. Maybe more so, as the few individuals who were in the know about magic needed other ways to maintain their dominance.

Whatever the criminal's reasons were was unimportant in the end. It was Ruby's job to stop them, plain and simple.

"Time to be the hero," Ruby muttered to herself. She downed the last contents of the whiskey bottle in her hand before casting it aside and stepping into the store.

"Just give us the dust, old timer," the lead thug said he poked his gun in the shop owner's face.

"Hey!" Ruby called out, almost losing a step as she entered. She recovered, but doubled down on her tough voice in case her misstep wasn't unnoticed. "Back away from the balding man!"

"Seriously..." The thug sighed and reluctantly turned towards the entrance. "And who are you exactly?"

Ruby's reply came in the form of pulling Crescent Rose out from behind her back and letting the scythe unfold in all her glory. She accidentally knocked over one of the store's displays in the process, but played it cool in the hopes that doing so added to her intimidation factor.

"Huntress!" The other two cursed at her as well before opening fire.

_Why do they always shoot first?_ Ruby questioned as she dove into one of the aisles for cover.

The shooting continued for a couple seconds before pausing, which Ruby took as a signal to make her move. She propelled herself forward and into the trio's midst. She then used her scythe to pull one of the would-be robber's feet right out from under him before bringing her blade down and cutting the second one's weapon in half.

Ruby wanted to consider this a victory, but the groups leader reminded her that he existed by reloading his weapon and training it on her. Acting on instinct, Ruby called on her semblance and let her increased speed carry her across the store.

On the positive side, every single bullet missed its mark. On the not so positive side, she misjudged the distance she had to travel, slamming into the dust dispenser at the back of the store. The casing shattered on impact and red dust was scattered everywhere.

Again, Ruby fell back on her instincts. She let Crescent Rose fold into her sniper rifle configuration and fired off a shot instantly. Not a particularly daring move on her part, as she had mastered the use of her weapon long ago. Not surprisingly, the bullet hit true, striking her target in the shoulder and causing him to drop his weapon.

What Ruby failed to account for was the possibility that her opponent would have a chance to pull the trigger one more time before he lost his grip and the weapon hit the ground. Even worse than that, the thug didn't even have the decency to shoot what was right in front of him. Instead, Ruby had to watch the bullet shoot downward at the pile of dust at her feet.

"Aw, nuts..." Ruby groaned as she watched the first spark ignite.

Having spent years working with dust of all kinds, Ruby didn't have to wonder what was coming next. Calling on her semblance one more time, she flew forward, grabbing hold of the store owner as she did. As they crashed the store's front window, the dust exploded behind them.

Having landed on the street outside, Ruby took a second before looking back in the direction she had come from. _From Dust Til Dawn_, to say the very least, had definitely seen better days. Sirens blared in the background, and with that, Ruby's memories were up to speed.

* * *

"So..." Ruby began as the officers paused to give her a chance to speak. "Am I free to go?"

The silence from both of them seemed to deny that possibility. Still, Ruby felt like it had been worth a try.

"Do you really think we can just let you off?" Officer Number One asked. "You caused damage to both private and public property."

"Oh, come on!" Ruby exclaimed as she tried to stand up, only to be reminded of her exact circumstances by a tug at her wrists and a sharp pain in her temple. "That was all on those robbers and you know it."

"Speaking of..." Number Two chimed in. "They're all suffering from varying degrees of burns on their bodies. You know what we call that?"

"Karma?"

"Excessive force," Number One corrected.

"Do you have any actual charges or not?" Ruby asked impatiently. Once upon a time, Ruby would never have considered mouthing off to the authorities. That, however, was a long time ago and, on top of that, she was having a lousy night. She was a licensed huntress and a veteran of the last war, so she doubted they really had anything to hold her on.

"We could probably dig up something," Number Two replied as he thumbed through the contents of a folder on the table. "You've been brought in here before, and you've been less than sober in all instances."

"Honestly, a huntress of your caliber with a track record like this makes the higher ups nervous," Number One continued, _trying _to sound honest. "They're concerned you might dangerous to _anyone_unlucky enough to get caught in your wake."

Any kind of reply from Ruby was cut short by a knocking against the interrogation room's one-way window. Confused, both officers left the room to investigate, leaving Ruby along with her thoughts.

Ruby clenched her fists together and leaned her forehead against them. She felt a brief burning in the corners of her eyes, but kept her emotions inside. This was not the place nor the time.

While the officers' words may have been meant to be impersonal, they still stung a bit. Ruby didn't need the reminder of who she was becoming. It was obvious, to the point where trying to convince herself that she wasn't some kind of albatross seemed like a flat-out lie.

Ruby looked at her own reflection in the one-way window. She was still highly skeptical that any charges against against her would be able to stick, especially any pertaining to this particular instant. Still, part of her wondered what would happen if the charges actually did stick, and if anyone would really miss her if she was separated from the rest of the world.

Whatever the case, Ruby decided to let her thoughts fade away as the door behind her reopened. She didn't even bother to turn around and face the door, knowing she would find out what they had in store for her soon enough.

"Ruby Rose..." a familiar voice said from the doorway. "You have silver eyes."

Ruby still didn't turn around, now more out of irritation. "Screw you, Oz," she mumbled.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," Beacon's former headmaster replied, though in a manner more akin to his current host body, Oscar Pine. To be fair, though, the two souls had become indistinguishable from each other long ago.

As the dark-skinned "teenager" moved through the room to sit across from her, Ruby found herself trying to figure out how this fact made her feel. On the one hand, a friend of hers had become another in a long line of souls lost to Ozpin's war with Salem.

On the other, there was just the simple fact that Ozpin remained despite the world's magic being gone. It was strange comfort for Ruby to know that the human soul was comprised of more than just some ancient magic. Like aura and semblances, it was an innate part of them that couldn't just be taken away. Granted, the spell that allowed Ozpin to reincarnate was now gone, which made Oscar the last person who would ever have to carry this burden. Once he died, Ozpin would finally die with him.

"It's been... what?" Ozpin pondered. "Six years since that night."

"You forgot the cookies this time," Ruby deadpanned. He wouldn't have come here without a reason. His wasting time pretending otherwise only made her headache worse.

"You'll have to forgive that oversight." Ozpin grinned, not put off by Ruby's demeanor. "I've had a number of matters come across my desk recently."

"Beacon still lets to _have_ a desk?"

"Headmaster Goodwitch has been quite accommodating, yes. Actually, one of those matters was to come speak with you."

"I guess I moved up that timetable." Ruby gestured to the room around her, or at least to the best of her ability given her current restraints. "So, what do you wanna chat about?"

Ozpin's smile went away. "Have you been in contact with your father recently?"

"Yeah..." Ruby made it a point to sound disinterested. "I'm _supposed_ to have dinner with him and Yang tomorrow night."

"Ruby..." No matter what body he inhabited, Ozpin could always sound like a disappointed teacher. "We both know I wasn't referring to Taiyang."

Ruby sighed, now stuck in yet another conversation she didn't want to have. "No, I couldn't tell you the last time I spoke to Qrow."

Speaking that last sentence out loud gave Ruby absolutely no sense of satisfaction. Qrow Branwen had been everything she ever wanted to become. He was one of the world's greatest huntsmen, the best teacher she had ever had, and was just as big a part of raising her as her adoptive father.

Theoretically, the revelation that Qrow was her biological father shouldn't have changed anything, and for a while it didn't. Qrow's reasoning for keeping said secret seemed to fall apart, and had almost stopped mattering. His semblance, which caused misfortune for those in its radius, was manageable and hardly a threat to Ruby's life, so he had stopped using that as an excuse long ago.

At least, that was until the war ended. For reasons Ruby still couldn't understand, Qrow pretty much withdrew from her shortly after that. He kept himself busy with missions, mostly tracking down the remnants of Salem's faction for Ozpin. He refused to let her accompany him, and avoided making making contact when he wasn't away.

Eventually, the message sank in. Much like she couldn't force Team RWBY to stay together after the war, Ruby knew that she couldn't force Qrow to be her father, no matter how much she wished she could.

"That's troubling..." Ozpin muttered, almost to himself.

"That's kinda how most people describe our relationship," Ruby replied instantly.

"No, it's troubling because he hasn't made contact since he left for his last mission."

"What was the mission?" Ruby's heart sank a bit. Qrow was a lot of things, but invincible was not one of them.

"Hazel Rainart." The name was all that was needed to be said. One of Salem's inner circle, and the only one to go unaccounted for after his mistress' fall. Hazel's loyalty to her was only outweighed by his hatred of Ozpin, who he blamed for his sister's death. Though he claimed to have no ill will towards anyone else, that was rarely the case in practice, particularly when it came to Ozpin's allies.

"You want me to track him down?" Ruby asked. Whatever their current troubles, Qrow was still her family, and she wasn't about to let anything happen to him.

"Unfortunately, there's no one else available whom I trust to complete this mission," Ozpin explained. "In all honesty, I'd rather you didn't go alone."

"Well, I don't exactly have a team," Ruby pointed out before trying and failing to stand yet again. "When are they gonna let me out of here?"

"Once the conditions of your release have been met."

"Conditions?" Ruby was already nervous about what she was hearing. She wondered if he was being serious.

Ozpin's grin returned, keeping his intentions vague. "The officers here are understandably concerned about the record you have recently acquired. They agreed to your arraignment on the condition that another huntress act as your supervisor for an... indefinite amount of time."

"How long is indefinite, again?" Ruby tugged at her restraints again.

"The details will be ironed out in due time." Ozpin waved his hand at her dismissively. "I've actually already convinced someone to take the job. Someone you're familiar with."

"Who exactly?" Ruby asked nervously as the door behind her opened once again.

"Someone who's obviously as big a dolt as you are," a weary voice answered. Again, Ruby recognized said voice instantly, though this time she was unsure if she should jump for joy or hide in terror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I want to give a quick thanks to anyone who's made it this far. It means a lot to me that you've taken the time. I'll try to be quick and concise in explaining what exactly this fic is.
> 
> In the most general sense, it's Post Canon, though I imagine it will be an AU within the next couple of months. While I don't want to ignore established canon, I also don't want to chase continuity once Vol. 7 starts. Needless to say, there's a lot in just this chapter alone that's off from my actual predictions of how the show will unfold. I'm also kicking around ideas for a much longer fic involving these characters, and this story serves as a means for me to get a feel for them.
> 
> More specifically, though, this story obviously deals with (among other things) the "Qrow is Ruby's father" theory, which I've come to learn is a bit of a touchy subject. I'm sure I'll get to talk about my specific feelings on the theory later on, but for now all I'll say is that I want to do something slightly different than the norm when it comes to this topic. Very few stories I've read actually deal with Ruby's POV, and none that I can remember deal with much past revelation itself. Needless to say, I'm more interested in Ruby and Qrow's relationship itself, and what this change in dynamic would mean to them (if anything at all).
> 
> Anywho, if you did like what you read here, chapters 2 and 3 are each about 99% done and should be up within the next few days. Leave a comment if you feel up to it and I'll talk at you guys soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Weiss Schnee was not particularly fond of children, and being tasked with babysitting Remnant's biggest child was not likely to change that.

Not that she was about to walk away from the task that had been presented to her. In all honesty, Weiss was more concerned about how easily she had been convinced to take it. All Ozpin had really had to say was that Ruby needed her help, and within the hour she was at the local police precinct signing for her former leader's release. A cynical voice in her head said that she would come to regret this decision later.

To be fair, Ruby was only her usual amount of trouble during the trip back to Weiss' apartment. Ruby had been a bit confrontational with the officer that returned Crescent Rose to her, but Ruby's unhealthy attachment to her scythe had been the norm since the day they met.

"Why can't I just go back to _my _apartment again?" Ruby whined as they waited for their elevator to reach its destination.

"Because I'm supposed to supervise you," Weiss replied without turning to face her charge.

"I can look after myself," Ruby pouted.

"You're still drunk."

"I am not! Accelerated metabolism, remember?"

Weiss rolled her eyes as the elevator doors opened in front of them. As they exited and moved down the hall, she finally turned to face Ruby. "It's just for tonight. I just don't want you running off and getting into trouble."

The protest on Ruby's face quickly turned into a smirk. "So you're doing this because you care?"

"I _care_ about my reputation," Weiss clarified. "I can't imagine I'd have an easy time finding work if I let you choke on your own vomit."

"I've missed you too, Princess." Ruby looked right at her with a big smile and wide, silver eyes, which kept Weiss from coming up with a retort. She was more than aware of the difficulties Ruby was having since the war ended, so seeing her in any mood that remotely resembled happiness was worth taking a few jabs.

Weiss had also missed Ruby as well, though she wasn't about to admit it out loud.

At that point they had reached her apartment, and Weiss didn't waste a second before unlocking the door and allowing them to enter. The apartment was small, with just a single bedroom, bathroom, and a living room and kitchen that could hardly be considered two separate rooms. The size of her dwelling, however, didn't bother Weiss in the slightest. This space belonged to her.

Severing ties with her father and the rest of her family had had immediate consequences. Weiss was disowned in every sense of the word, left with only Myrtenaster to call her own. Turned out, though, that those conditions suited her just fine. She had spent years training to become a huntress, and by the end of the war she knew her craft quite well. It took some time, but working full time as a huntress allowed her to achieve a sense of stability.

Of course, Ruby had been in her apartment for all of ten seconds and was already looking to destroy that stability. She had made a beeline for the coffee table, picking up and opening a vile of fire dust from a set Weiss had been organizing when she received Ozpin's call.

"Put that down!" Weiss demanded, marching over to the girl and attempting to snatch the vile away.

Ruby held the vile out of Weiss' reach. "Oh, what's the worst that could happen?" she asked playfully.

"Maybe you've forgotten our first meeting but I haven't!"

"How could I forget the _fireworks_ between us?" Ruby managed to end her own fun by letting some of the dust fall from the vile and onto the couch behind her. It quickly ignited a small flame. "Oh god, it's happening again!"

Weiss could only watch in disbelief as Ruby patted down the smoking piece of furniture with her cloak. The cynical voice in her head was certain Ruby would kill her in her sleep.

Eventually, Ruby succeeded in preventing the apartment from burning down, which she followed up by plopping herself down on the singed couch. Seeing that Ruby had seemed to mellow out, Weiss sat down next to her.

"Are you alright?" Weiss asked after a couple seconds.

"Yeah..." Ruby lied as she stared at what seemed like nothing at all. "I'm just trying to figure out what I'm going to do about this mission."

"Well, let me know if you need help. We can't blindly rush into this one."

"We?" Ruby turned to Weiss, curiosity piqued.

"I _have_ to go with you, remember?" Weiss regretted the words the second they left her mouth.

"Right..." Ruby's curiosity gave way to disappointment, making Weiss even more mad at herself. With one sentence, she had managed to make her partner feel like an obligation.

Of course, it wasn't that long ago that Weiss wouldn't have thought twice about intentionally doing so. That had always been their dynamic. Ruby would go out of her way to impress Weiss, and Weiss would pretend Ruby's gestures were meaningless to her. This wasn't entirely the case anymore, especially considering that Ruby had taken the disbanding of Team RWBY harder than anyone.

It hadn't really been any one person's fault. Blake had been the first to leave, understandably wanting to take some time away from being a huntress. Yang followed, having had a particularly difficult time accepting Blake's departure. To Weiss' understanding, Yang rarely accepted missions as of late.

Weiss felt a pang of guilt as she recalled her own reasons for leaving, now feeling like she had been selfish then. She had said she simply wanted to prove that she could stand on her own two feet, something all the more important to her now that she could no longer fall back on her family's wealth and influence. While all this had been true to some degree, they had not been the extent of her concerns.

Things had changed for all of them during the war, as well as afterwards. Watching the connection between Blake and Yang basically disintegrate after the fighting ended placed more than a few doubts in Weiss' pertaining to her bond with her own partner and whether or not they would end up any differently. Unfortunately, she let those doubts get the better of her, a choice she could clearly see was a mistake.

Perhaps the team coming apart would have been easier on all of them if they stayed in touch more often, but that had not been the case. Blake had returned to Menagerie, Yang was essentially wandering around the kingdom trying to find herself, and Ruby and Weiss each accepted enough missions to keep themselves busy.

Ultimately, Ruby had had no support structure when she started to spiral, and Weiss now wanted to course correct on that regard. It was the least she could do for the first real friend she had ever had.

"Let's start with the facts," Weiss began as she pulled out her scroll. Ozpin had already sent all relevant information on the mission to her. "Two weeks ago, an airship carrying Atlas Tech out of Vacuo disappeared from its flight path." A map appeared on the scroll, which had the location of the robbery marked.

"What was on board?" Ruby asked as she leaned closer to Weiss to read over her shoulder.

Weiss _tried_ to pull up a manifest. "A lot of the contents are redacted. I'll have to contact Winter to see if she can release a complete list. Right now it just looks like weapons and dust."

"I guess Hazel would want those things."

"Your father seemed to think so as well." A new marker appeared on the map. "He last checked in when he was in this area."

"So I guess we'll head there first and start looking for clues." Ruby leaned back.

"I concur." Weiss looked away from her scroll. "Do we have everything we'll need?"

"It'd be nice to have a master scout and a blonde brawler," Ruby mumbled, probably having not meant it as a serious suggestion.

Weiss was going to retort, but an idea clicked in her had first. She returned to her scroll. "I'll email Blake."

"I was joking."

"And _I_ wasn't." Weiss typed as she spoke. "If we are going after Rainart, then we need the best team."

"Would she even want to get involved?"

"Probably not, but I know her and she won't turn us down once she knows the details." Weiss paused to proof read her message. Satisfied, she hit send. "I assume you'll talk to Yang tomorrow."

"Yeah, she promised she wouldn't flake out on Dad and me this time." Ruby shook her head wearily. "Honestly, I'm not sure if it would be better or worse for Blake to say no."

"I guess we'll find out." Weiss finally clicked her scroll off and stood up. "I'm getting changed and going to bed. Bathroom's right there if you need it."

"Wait, where am I sleeping?" Ruby asked quickly before Weiss could take her first step.

"Here," Weiss answered with a raised eyebrow. She thought that had been obvious.

"But this couch is all... burnt."

"Whose fault is that?" Weiss sighed and shook her head. "Are you implying that I should sleep here instead?"

"No..." A _mostly_ innocent smile found its way to Ruby's face. "I'm _implying_ that we should just share your bed."

"Absolutely not," Weiss replied instantly.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not listening to you snore all night."

"I don't snore," Ruby said confidently, though said confidence seemed to blink away a second later. "Wait, do I snore?"

"Goodnight, Ruby," Weiss snapped. She turned away before Ruby could continue, heading to her bedroom and slamming the door behind her.

_You can handle one night_, Weiss told herself, mainly to drown out the voice in her head.

* * *

Blake Belladonna had always hated politics.

It was one of the reasons she had joined the White Fang so long ago. A bunch of people in a room talking at each other never seemed to accomplish anything. More often than not, change required action.

That was years ago, though, and Blake was willing to try changing with the times. Her method of doing so was sitting in a room with her parents and a bunch of people she barely knew while they all talked at each other.

The irony of this situation was not lost on her.

Still, her current position on the Menagerie council wasn't all bad. Based on her parents' moods as they walked home from their most recent meetings, things had gone well today. Blake assumed so anyway, as she had been having trouble focusing during the day's proceedings. She could only vaguely recall what was meant to be the topic of discussion.

"All I'm saying is it's only a matter of time!" Blake's father, Ghira, bellowed without regard for anyone nearby. Not that anyone seemed to mind the noise. Again, he was more excited than anything else.

"Well, we can hope so," Kali replied calmly. Blake had always known her mother to be the more reasonable of her parents, making sure to balance out her father's personality.

"Hope? It's basically guaranteed!" Ghira paused for a second before looking at his wife and calming down. "Oh, I see what you're doing."

"You always figure it _eventually_." Kali looked to Blake and winked. Being calm and supportive didn't mean that she didn't like to have her own fun every so often.

"What do you think, Blake?" Ghira asked just as they reached the front of their home.

"I-" Blake began before a notification on her scroll cut her off. Somewhat relieved that she wouldn't have to make up an answer to appease her father, she checked the device immediately and was surprised to see Weiss' name on the screen.

"Is everything alright?" Kali asked, causing Blake to realize how still and quiet she had been for the last few seconds.

"I'm not sure," Blake answered slowly. While this wasn't the first message she had received from Weiss since returning to Menagerie, communication from the former Schnee heiress was still rare.

"Then you should open it and see what's up," a loud and cocky voice called out from above the three of them.

Blake and her parents looked upwards, none of them all that surprised to see Sun Wukong hanging from the tree above them. The monkey faunus released his grip and fell downwards, landing on his feet right in front of them.

"So what does it say?" Sun asked eagerly.

"Probably nothing that concerns you," Ghira growled, making it clear that he didn't approve of Sun's presence.

"Is that what Blake thinks?" Sun countered. He did his best to stand his ground, which was a difficult task given the size difference between himself and the Belladonna patriarch. He ended up turning towards Blake and grinning nervously.

Against her better judgment, Blake smiled back. She had long since given up pretending that she _hated_ Sun's spying and unannounced entrances. While annoying and inappropriate at times, Blake conceded they were also part of his charm.

In his defense, Sun had managed to surprise Blake in ways that didn't involve unexpected appearances. When they had first met, Sun had actually seemed indifferent when it came to faunus discrimination. This changed over time, however, culminating in him moving to Menagerie following Salem's defeat. While Sun had zero interest in joining the council and becoming involved in politics, he was incredibly involved in community outreach and the responsibilities that came with it.

"Maybe we can talk about this inside," Kali suggested as she motioned to the house. "How about you join us for dinner, Sun?"

"Hey, I'm always down for your cooking, Mrs. B," Sun replied, eagerness now back.

Kali smiled, mischievously from what Blake could tell. "Actually, it's Ghira's turn to cook tonight."

"Yes..." Ghira agreed. "And I have a _special _recipe that I've been saving for one of your visits."

"Can't wait," Sun squeaked before following Blake's parents inside.

Blake herself, however, decided to stay behind for a few minutes. Not really sure what she was nervous about, she opened her scroll and read Weiss' message to herself.

_Qrow's missing and Ozpin's worried. Apparently, he was following a lead on Hazel Rainart. Ruby and I are going to investigate, and were hoping the rest of Team RWBY could join us. Let me know if you're interested and I'll send you the details once I have them._

Blake spaced out a bit, rereading the message as she moved through her front door. Before she could form any complete thoughts on the matter, she collided with a body that was waiting for her on the other side.

"Sun!" Blake yelled. Quick reflexes were all that kept her from falling over or dropping her scroll.

"Don't get mad at me!" Sun said quickly. "I wasn't exactly sneaking around."

"Sorry," Blake conceded. "I was a little distracted."

"What's wrong?"

Rather than answer, Blake simply handed him her scroll and let him read.

"Damn..." Sun said after a few seconds. "The Ice Queen doesn't mince words. Didn't even ask how you were doing."

"Well, that's Weiss for you," Blake replied, actually letting a small, sentimental smile find it's way to her face.

"So..." Sun handed Blake's scroll back to her with one hand and scratched his neck with the other. "When do ya think you'll be leaving?"

"What makes you think I'll be going?"

"The fact that I've met you." Sun grinned and shrugged.

Blake shook her head as she found herself sitting down on the ground. "Is there a limit that I don't about on how long I can go without fighting?"

"Does seem that way sometimes." Sun paused for a second after realizing his joke hadn't landed. He sat down next to her and placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. "What's really bothering you?"

There really wasn't any one answer to Sun's question. Blake had been fighting her entire life. Whether it was for or against the White Fang, battling Salem herself, or anyone her and her friends had fought in between, conflict always seemed constant. Her return to Menagerie was meant to be an end to that, not just an intermission.

"I just thought I finally things figured out," Blake explained. She would be the first to admit that her new life could get a bit boring, but she had had enough excitement to last a lifetime. She was fine with Gambol Shroud becoming a memento of her past life. "Going to council meetings with my parents was just starting to feel normal."

"But is feeling normal more important than family?" Sun asked almost without thinking.

Blake instinctively shook her head. The size of her family had grown significantly since the day she arrived at Beacon. It had shrunk sometimes as well, but those instances only made her more determined to protect the people that remained. Even Qrow, who she still didn't really know all that well, fell into this category. His connection to Ruby and Yang ensured his place there as far as Blake was concerned.

Her brain hit a speed bump with that last thought, reminding her of the other reason she was nervous about seeing her old team again.

"Yang will probably be there," Blake stated, making her unsure all over again.

"Maybe that's a good thing," Sun offered. He didn't sound completely convinced, but she appreciated him trying.

"How?" Blake asked anyway.

"Look, I don't know about everything that happened between you two." Sun paused again to look off into space. "And trust me, there are a few details I'd _really_ like to know about..."

"Sun!" Feeling her face start to heat up, Blake hit him the chest hoping to bring them both back to reality.

"Right, sorry!" Sun returned his focus to her. "It's just that you two were inseparable once. Even if you never have that kind of relationship again, wouldn't it be better to end things on better terms?"

"Maybe..." Blake slowly stood up with Sun right behind her.

"You mean definitely!"

"Oh, just shut up already," Blake teased, which she followed up by wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thanks."

"Any time," Sun replied softly as he hugged her back.

They separated after a couple seconds, with Blake quickly pulling out her scroll again to answer Weiss. One final mission wouldn't kill her, or at least wouldn't be more likely to kill her than any other mission she had ever accepted.

Besides, she also had a promise to keep.


	3. Chapter 3

Yang Xiao Long considered herself a master escape artist.

Departing from the two bedroom apartment she currently occupied undetected was looking to be a piece of cake. The residence's occupants were still asleep and wouldn't be awake until she was long gone. Before Yang could celebrate another successful getaway, however, she had to make sure she wasn't missing anything.

Yang quickly ran through a checklist in her head. She wasn't missing a single article of clothing, she had been able to easily locate both of her boots and slip her feet into them, and her scroll and motorcycle keys were on her person. In other words, everything was accounted for.

_And who said I can't do stealth?_ Yang thought as made her way to the door. Pleased with herself, she attempted to reach for the door nob, only to realize she had celebrated too soon.

"Crap!" Yang hissed immediately after it registered that she was missing her right arm. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to locate the metal prosthetic. She knew she needed to find it fast to salvage her graceful exit.

She retraced her steps as quickly and quietly as she could but came up empty. Before she could muster the courage to sneak back into the bedroom to find the missing part of herself, the door to said room creaked open and her arm emerged from it.

"Need a hand?" the person holding the object asked. He was about her age, had black hair and dark eyes, wolf ears on the top of his head, and no shirt on.

And for the life in her she couldn't remember his name.

"I guess so," Yang replied, giving the most genuine laugh she could given the circumstances. She accepted the prosthetic and reattached it to herself, flexing metallic fingers as she did to make sure it was still calibrated correctly.

"You headin' out?" the faunus asked.

"Yeah..." Yang began as she looked around, almost hoping that an easy excuse would appear in front of her. "You were still asleep and I didn't want to be a bother-"

"Oh, it's no bother." He turned back into the bedroom. "Hey, Yang's leaving!"

Yang's cursed under her breath as a half-naked young woman appeared in the doorway. She was human, with dark hair and yellowish eyes.

"Aw, that's a shame," the girl said, pretending to pout. Yang found herself remembering why she had continued to flirt with the girl the previous night. "Well, last night was fun. I've never driven with two other people on the back of a motorcycle before."

"Yeah, it was an adventure alright," Yang pretended to agree as she inched her way backwards. "But you know what they say. All good things..."

"Wait!" the faunus said suddenly as he presented his scroll to her. "We didn't get your number."

"Right..." Yang considered putting in a number other than her own, but she couldn't remember Weiss' number off the top of her head so settled on giving the real thing. If anything, she could pretend to be away on mission whenever they decided to call.

She eventually did make it outside, realizing that the day was already well into the afternoon. Apparently the previous nights "activities" had kept them up later than she had thought. Maybe this was a blessing in disguise, as it saved Yang the trouble of having to find some other way to occupy her time before meeting with Ruby and her father. Whatever the case, though, Yellow Jacket was right where she'd left her.

Sliding the key into the ignition with zero, the motorcycle came to life and Yang headed directly for her childhood home. It wasn't a long trip in any sense of the word. Patch was not a very large place to begin with, and its roads were relatively empty on most days. Peaceful had always been an apt word when describing the island, even during the war. It was one of the few places on Remnant that saw none of the conflict.

The shortness of the journey was also down to how Yang typically liked to travel. When she was on her bike, she liked to clear her thoughts of any baggage she might currently be carrying. It was a lot like meditating in that way.

Her moment of zen eventually came to an end as she reached her destination. The small, one story cabin never seemed to change much over the years. Same bumps in the dirt road leading to the house, as well as the same boxes of sunflowers by the front. The door was unlocked, but this had never been a cause for concern. Her father was a trained huntsmen, and Yang pitied the common criminal who tried to break into the cabin while he was home.

And of course, there was also the guard dog. Zwei looked in Yang's direction as she entered the house. He wagged his tail, but made no effort to get up from his spot on the living room couch to greet her. Instead, the corgi rolled over as Yang approached, allowing her to scratch her metal fingers against his belly.

"Still enjoying peacetime, buddy?" Yang commented. Zwei was _definitely_ a bit rounder than the last time she had seen him.

She didn't spend more than a few seconds there, deciding to instead follow the voices she heard into the kitchen.

"I was just saying that keeping stuff on the stop shelf didn't stop me when I was little so it's not gonna work now," Ruby's voice echoed, her voice about halfway between playful banter and actual annoyance.

"And _I'm _saying that if I had actually been trying to keep it from you, you'd never have gotten to it," Taiyang Xiao Long replied as Yang entered the room. She immediately saw what her father was referring to, noting the whiskey the bottle in Ruby's hand.

Ruby snorted. "Whatever you say, old man. Takes more than that to pull the cloak over my- eh!"

Yang had taken advantage of Ruby's distracted state to pull the bottle right out her hand. "You were saying?" she teased.

"Yang!" Ruby whined. She grabbed onto the bottle to pull it away, but Yang held on too tightly for her to succeed. "That's cheating! Give it back!"

"You know this stuff isn't good for you, right?"

The silver-eyed warrior was undeterred. "Then why's it okay when you drink it?"

"I know moderation." Yang released her grip and let Ruby have her way. "You've been a glutton since you exited the womb."

"You sound like Weiss." Ruby frowned as she began opening the bottle, struggling for half a second before succeeding and taking her first sip.

"You really can't wait til we start eating?" Taiyang asked, yet without any surprise in his voice. He had moved back to the stove to start preparing dinner. Not that Yang needed him to clarify why he was not surprised. Instead, she decided to focus on a different detail.

Yang smirked and raised an eyebrow. "So you saw Weiss recently?"

"Yeah, last night," Ruby answered absentmindedly, either missing or not caring that Yang's observation was also an innuendo. "She picked me up from the police station last night."

A crash rang out from over by the stove, cutting Yang off before she could make a more lewd statement. Both girls turned to see Taiyang picking an empty pot off the floor.

"Why were you at the police station?" Taiyang demanded.

"You get arrested again?" Yang suggested casually.

"Again?" Taiyang was doing his best to not raise his voice, but that obviously wasn't easy at the moment.

"More like they _tried _to arrest me," Ruby muttered as she returned to her bottle.

"Ruby!"

"It's fine! Oz sorted the whole thing out." Ruby then shook her head, all of a sudden becoming more serious. She turned directly to Yang. "He said that Dad's missing."

Yang considered making a joke about how their father was right standing just a few feet away from her, but decided it was in poor taste. Even though Ruby's real parentage wasn't really a sore spot in their house, Yang felt like her uncle possibly being in danger was something to take seriously.

"What was his mission?" she asked instead.

"He was following a lead on Hazel Rainart," Ruby stated, which was all Yang needed to hear to understand the gravity of the situation.

"Do you know anything else?"

"Not really. Weiss and I were going to look into a missing airship, but that's the only lead we have." Ruby nervously spun the whiskey bottle in her hands, a tell that she was worried about something else. "We were kinda hoping you would come with."

"Of course," Yang replied instantly, though it was obvious Ruby was still holding something back. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, uh..." Ruby looked away for a split second and scratched the back of her head. "Blake's going to fly up and meet us there too."

"Oh..." Yang felt her chest clench up. Not that this should have surprised her. With a mission as potentially dangerous as this one, it was only natural that all of Team RWBY would would be asked to participate.

Ruby waited a few seconds before speaking again. "If that's a problem-"

"It's not."

"Are you sure? I know you two breaking up wasn't exactly easy on-"

"I said it's fine, Ruby!" Yang knew her eyes had turned red and instantly regretted it. Not that there was anything she could do to make Ruby afraid of her, but that didn't give her a pass to snap like that.

Yang would have been lying to herself if she said she was over how things had ended between her and Blake, but her former partner had made her choice. Holding onto old grudges wouldn't change her mind. Besides, the world was a lot bigger than just the two of them, and Yang was sure she could control herself for the couple days it would take to find Qrow.

Luckily, she wouldn't have to say any of this out loud. Ruby didn't seem to need any further reassurance that she would keep her mind on the mission.

"Okay," Ruby said before walking over to Taiyang. "Is anyone else as hungry as I am?"

"No one's ever as hungry as you are," Taiyang quipped, signaling the start of a more normal meal.

"Obviously we've never introduced you to Nora," Yang countered as she moved to join her family.

* * *

"Accelerated metabolism, my ass."

Yang looked down at Ruby, who had passed out on the living room couch. Knowing Ruby would be asleep for the rest of the night, Yang pulled a half-empty bottle from her hand and began to walk away. She only turned around again at the sound of Zwei jumping on top of Ruby and laying down on her chest.

Unfortunately, it was moments like these that made Ruby's resemblance to Qrow all the more apparent. Growing up, Yang had picked up on how the two of them dressed alike and shared similar mannerisms, but had always chalked it up to Ruby wanting to emulate her favorite teacher. Now, though, Yang questioned how she had let the truth go over her head for so long.

"Did _you_ know?" Yang asked Zwei, who tilted his head at her before nodding off as well.

Following the big reveal, Yang had never really pushed for specific details from Qrow or even her own father. Ruby hadn't been all that phased, a part of her likely having known the entire time, so Yang didn't lose much sleep over the situation either. In the end, Ruby would _always_ be her baby sister, and genetics would never change that.

Still, maybe she had put off learning the specific details long enough. Yang wasn't sure if it was just due to the mission she had just learned about or just because she had trouble seeing Ruby act like this, but she found her curiosity finally getting the better of her. Yang reentered the kitchen, finding her father looking at the empty bottle that Ruby had started with.

"Did you have any of this?" Taiyang asked, sounding more than a little concerned.

"Only a little," Yang replied, not bothering to ask him the same question. The only person she had ever known her father to drink with was Qrow. "I think it was mostly her."

"Wonderful..." Taiyang sat down at the table and shook his head. "Pretty sure these were right out of your uncle's stash too."

Yang sat down next to him, relatively certain that his assertion didn't make things better. "Are we just treating alcoholism like it's her birthright now?"

Taiyang sighed and shrugged. "Well, they say addiction is genetic."

"I just don't get what's wrong with Uncle Qrow." Yang fiddled with the bottle she'd taken from Ruby, still having not put it down. "Why has he been avoiding her?"

"It's complicated."

"Well, then I'd appreciate it if someone would uncomplicate it." Yang tried not to raise her voice, but she hadn't expected her father to give her vague answers like that. "Because I just can't figure out how we got here."

Taiyang waited a few seconds, likely taking his time to figure out how to respond. Eventually, he turned and looked directly at her. "How much do remember about your childhood? Before Summer died, I mean."

"Some, I guess." Yang wasn't sure what the point of the question was, but chose to indulge her father anyway. The memories she could recall were positive ones, as it was the only time in her life when she had both her parents. Granted, Summer Rose had only been Ruby's biological mother and not her own, but again that felt more like genetics than the way Yang actually remembered the woman.

"Anything specific?" Taiyang followed up.

"I..." Yang hesitated, now taking her turn to figure out how to respond. "I remember us being a family. I remember us being happy."

"We were both those things."

"But you and Summer never-"

"No," Taiyang stated calmly. "I loved Summer, but was never _in _love with her. The fact that you were so young that you couldn't tell the difference is probably why everything stayed a secret for so long." He paused again as if to consider his last statement. "Well, that and Summer and Qrow being on mission so often."

Yang shifted uncomfortably in her seat, not liking being reminded of how much she didn't know about her family. "None of that answers my original question."

"I'm getting to that part," Taiyang assured her with a brief chuckle. "First step to understanding your uncle is understanding his relationship with Summer."

"Was it love at first sight?" Yang asked snidely.

Taiyang smiled, letting his gaze drift away from Yang for a moment. "_Years _after the fact Summer would joke about that being the case, and Qrow was... well, Qrow about the whole thing. It was Initiation Day at Beacon, by the way. That's how they met and became partners, and they took to each other way quicker than I think either of them realized.

"It was kinda... poetic in its own weird way. A silver-eyed warrior and a walking bad luck charm... They were both convinced they were destined to be alone, but neither of them ever accounted for the other."

"It didn't last though," Yang concluded. Even if she hadn't known exactly how the story ended, she knew the signs from all the trashy romance novels Blake had convinced her to read.

"No, it didn't." Taiyang's grin finally faded, his eyes falling to an empty spot on the table in front of him. "Qrow had reservations about being a father _before_ Summer died, and I really shouldn't have been surprised by what came next."

"That's when he left Ruby with us?"

Taiyang clenched his fists together. "Part of me hated him for doing it."

"Then why'd you go along with it?"

His initial reply was taking a deep breath, one of his many methods of dissipating his anger. "Your uncle is a lot of things. He's obnoxious, irresponsible, and has no idea how to deal with his emotions in a healthy way. And don't even get me started on what it's like to live with the guy."

"Getting a little off track here, Dad," Yang pointed out, noticing her father's anger start to flare up again.

He ignored her. "Did you know he has this... delusion that if he licks something it's automatically his? Seriously, no sane person could come up with something like that!"

"Dad!"

"Right, sorry..." Taiyang composed himself before continuing. "Look, my point is that Qrow is all those things, but he's... He's also my best friend, or at least the best one I have left. Why did I take in Ruby? Because he asked me to."

The room went silent, and Yang tried piece together everything her father had just shared with her. Technically, he still hadn't answered her original question, but rather had given her what she needed to draw her own conclusions. In all likelihood, Taiyang didn't actually know the specific reason why Qrow was avoiding Ruby, as Qrow had never been good at sharing what was bothering him.

"He's scared," Yang said, taking a shot in the dark.

"Oh yeah," Taiyang agreed. "If you wanna know _what_ he's scared of, though, you'll have to ask him."

"We have to find him first."

"About that..." Taiyang hesitated, almost nervous about saying his piece. "You know you have a pretty direct way of locating him, right?"

Yang looked her father in the eye, taking a second before realizing exactly what he was suggesting. "Not a chance in hell."

"Yang..."

"I am not going to _her _for help."

"Her" of course was Raven Branwen, Yang's estranged biological mother and Qrow's twin sister among many other things. One of Beacon's most infamous graduates, she had spent those years as a member of Team STRQ along with Summer, Taiyang, and Qrow. In addition to her proficiency in combat, her semblance allowed her to create portals directly to people she was connected to. The ability would have been ideal for their current mission if not for the person who came with it.

"Yang, this isn't the time to be stubborn," Taiyang argued. He had a point, but that didn't necessarily make him right.

"Why are we even having this conversation?" Yang finally stood up to walk away. "We don't even know where she is."

"_I _do," Taiyang declared, standing up as well. The room went still again as Yang processed what she had just been told. "Or at least I know how to contact her."

"How do you know that?" Yang asked slowly, knowing she wouldn't like the answer no matter what her father said.

"Because I've been..." Taiyang trailed off, scratching the side of his face. "I've been seeing your mother."

"Oh god..." Yang felt dinner start to crawl its way back up her throat.

"She came to me after your battle at Haven and told me about what happened, and ever since then-"

Yang covered her ears with her hands. "I don't wanna know the details!"

"Yeah, I guess not." Taiyang approached her slowly, seeming way more calm than Yang was right now. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "But you deserve to know the truth."

"The only thing I want to know is the reason you're with her again after everything she put us through," Yang whined.

"You mean besides the fact that she's my wife and the mother of my daughter?"

"She's not your wife!" Yang snapped as she pulled away from her father, who didn't try to stop her.

"We were never officially divorced or separated, so she technically is."

Taiyang must have been waiting for Yang's response, because he remained still and quiet after his last comment. Yang stayed quiet, however, barely able to look at her father at this point. It wasn't even as much that she felt betrayed as it was that she knew this would all blow up in his face, and she wasn't sure that anyone would be able to pick up the pieces this time.

"Look..." Taiyang said finally. "We can talk about your mother and me later. For now, we should focus on what matters, and that's finding your uncle."

"Fine..." Yang said quietly, still not turning to face her father. "But I'm only doing this for Ruby."

"I'm more than alright with that."

Yang sighed while at the same time realizing that she was still holding the whiskey bottle she had taken from her sister. With Blake _and_ Raven both front-and-center in her mind, she was considering pouring herself another glass. She had no idea how she was going to make it through this mission.


	4. Chapter 4

"_That was awesome!"_

_Some people might have told Ruby that following her uncle without telling anyone was a bad idea, but those people were no fun. Sure, Patch's wooded areas weren't completely safe, as the small group of Beowolves that emerged from the treeline seemed determined to prove. Of course, Ruby was tailing one of the greatest huntsmen in the history of ever, which meant she had nothing to worry about._

_The whole fight had only lasted about a minute. The six Grimm had surrounded Qrow, almost like they thought they had lured him into a trap. They had no idea how wrong they were. Qrow moved fast enough that Ruby almost missed his first move._

_He drew his massive sword, which he called Harbinger, and brought it down hard on the first Beowolf, cleaving it in two. Without slowing down, Qrow turned right around as he pulled a switch that shifted Harbinger into its gun mode. He fired a single shot, hitting a second Beowolf dead-on, causing it to disappear in a cloud of black smoke._

_The remaining four all attacked at once, but that had only resulted in Ruby's favorite part of the entire fight. Harbinger shifted modes again, now settling on the shape of the coolest looking scythe that Ruby had ever seen._

_Well, it was the only scythe Ruby had ever seen in person, but that made it the coolest by default._

_Qrow took a single wide swing, letting Harbinger cut through all four of its targets cleanly and easily. Not that Ruby was really surprised. She knew her uncle could have cut through a hundred of those monsters, no problem._

"_That last move especially!" Ruby continued to gush from her spot in the brush. "That was the coolest thing ever!"_

"_Well, I doubt the Grimm thought it was that cool..." Qrow replied casually, confident grin on his face until up until he quickly shook his head and returned to "adult mode." The worst mode, as far as Ruby was concerned. "I mean- What are you doing out here, Kiddo?"_

"_Watching you kick monster butt!" Ruby jogged over to him, miming the fight she had seen as she did. "You were all like _swoosh_ and _bang_ and... uh..." Ruby paused as she tried to come up with another noise that the scythe had made. "Well, like I said, it was awesome."_

"_Yeah, thanks, but-"_

"_How'd you know it was gonna work?"_

_Thankfully, Qrow swapped his adult face for a confused one. "How'd I know what was gonna work?"_

"_That last move," Ruby answered calmly as she swung the imaginary scythe in her hands again. "I'm just sayin'... It looks heavy and if you'd missed those Beowolves would have been right on top of you."_

"_Honestly, I didn't." Qrow's grin came back as he sheathed his weapon and knelt down in front of her. "But part of being a huntsmen is knowing that you can't plan for everything. Things can and will go wrong, which means that sometimes you have to trust your instincts and hope for the best. You got it?"_

_Ruby smiled and nodded. "I think so."_

"_Good." Qrow reached out and scratched the top of her head with his knuckles. "Now are you gonna answer my question?"_

"_Stop it!" Ruby giggled and tried to push his hand away. "School let out early so I decided to come see you. I saw you going this way so I followed and here I am."_

"_Yeah, well at least let me know the next time you decide to follow me." Qrow finally pulled his hand back. "There's more Grimm on this island than you'd think."_

"_I'll promise if you answer one more question for me."_

"_This ain't a negotiation, Kiddo."_

"_Please..." Ruby clasped her hands together and looked at him with big eyes. He never said no to her when she asked like this._

_Qrow sighed. "Alright, shoot."_

"_Can you teach me how to do that?"_

_Qrow didn't answer immediately. "You mean...?"_

"_Yep!" Ruby replied, making sure to sound as confident as he did. "With the scythe and everything."_

_Qrow paused again, this time looking away from her for as he spoke. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Ruby."_

"_Why not?" Ruby felt her heart sink a little bit. "You're a teacher, aren't you?"_

"_Yeah, but..." Qrow turned back to her again. "So is your dad, and I bet he'd be better at this kinda thing than I would."_

"_If I wanted to learn to fight like him, maybe," Ruby pointed out nervously._

"_And what's wrong with fighting like him?"_

"_Nothing, it's just..." Ruby paused, not wanting to admit her faults to her uncle. "Well, Yang is starting at Signal next year, and he's kinda busy with her, so-"_

_She was cut off by Qrow placing a hand on her shoulder. "You know you can tell me what's really bothering you, right?"_

_Ruby hesitated again before reluctantly looking him in the eye. "I'm no good at fighting hand-to-hand. I try my best, but I'm not like Yang and Dad."_

"_Well, maybe you just need to practice," Qrow suggested, actually sounding a bit unsure. He seemed like he realized it too. "Look, there's no rule written anywhere that says you even have to become a huntress."_

_No, there was no written rule, but that didn't mean it wasn't true. There was nothing else she wanted more. Ruby had been raised on stories, both real and fairy tale, and each of those stories ended with her having the same revelation: she wanted to help people and make the world a better place. This, however, was not what she told her uncle. Her reply to him was much simpler._

"_I wanna be like Mom," Ruby stated, doing her best to hold back tears. She barely had anything left of her mother as it was. Next to no physical possessions, and even fewer memories. She felt like if she let go of this dream, she was letting go of her mother as well._

_Ruby apparently didn't need to explain any of this to Qrow, with the five words she had said being enough. He carefully unfolded Harbinger again, holding the scythe out so she could see it._

"_Okay, listen up," Qrow began calmly but sternly. "_If_ we're gonna do this, there are three things you need to know."_

"_I'm listening," Ruby replied, trying not to get her hopes up just yet. She stood at attention and listened closely._

"_First up, this is not one of your dad's gardening tools. Some of the greatest huntresses and huntsmen on Remnant have tried and failed to master this style of fighting. You will hurt yourself while learning to use it, and that'll be on a good day."_

"_I know," Ruby confirmed. "And I'm ready."_

"_Second, you don't have anything to prove to me." Qrow's voice softened a bit. "If this does become too much for you, you need to let me know. I'll teach you how to use something else. Hell, maybe even something like your mother used to use."_

"_You won't have to." Ruby couldn't keep herself from smiling now. Qrow had essentially just told her that he would teach her no matter what. "What's the third thing?"_

"_It's the most important, so listen up."_

"_Let me have it then," Ruby demanded eagerly._

_Qrow smirked for a split second before his expression became serious again. "Being like your mother has nothing to do with fighting. She wasn't the best of us because she killed the most Beowolves or because she won every battle. She was the best because she always put others before her, no matter how tight a corner she was backed into, and she always showed mercy and forgiveness, even to people who didn't deserve it._

"_Remember that, and I know you'll be just just as great a huntress as she was," Qrow concluded, waiting as what he had just said sunk in._

_Ruby felt herself getting choked up again, this time because she was happy. Not only was she excited about having the best teacher ever, but she also liked the way that Qrow talked about her mother._

"_You're the best, Uncle Qrow!" Ruby yelled as she wrapped her arms around his neck._

"_Nice to know that at least one person is catching on," Qrow replied, placing a single hand on her back before standing up and separating the two of them. "Now, how about we get you home?"_

"_Already?" Ruby whined. "But it's still the middle of the day."_

"_Humor me, Kiddo. Don't know how your old man would take the news of you getting eaten by an Ursa."_

"_Fine..."_

_It didn't take long for Ruby's disappointment to turn back into excitement. So far, becoming a huntress was already living up to her expectations._

* * *

"Hey, wake up, Rubes!"

Ruby didn't open her eyes immediately, at least not until she felt her sister's metal hand bump into her shoulder. She sat up straighter in the old wooden bench that three quarters of her team were currently occupying, waiting for an incoming train that was carrying said team's last member.

If not for the train approaching from the distance, Ruby would have likely gone back to sleep without a second thought. So far, the mission was moving along slowly, with their travel time making up most of what they had done so far. Their arrival in the small town of Holzfäller had been followed by some wandering around looking for leads mixed with a lot of waiting.

Yang's reluctant suggestion of seeking out Raven had been a _mostly_ sensible one, even if the nature of the woman's life made it difficult to actually contact her. Weiss had put forward the idea of still heading to where Qrow had last contacted Ozpin, in case Raven ended up flaking on them.

At this particular moment, however, none of that mattered. It wasn't Raven who was on the train, but instead one Blake Belladonna. Ruby looked to Yang, who at this point had stood up and was pacing back and forth. She would have been lying if she said she wasn't worried about what her older sister's reaction would be once the train did come to a stop.

Ruby looked to Weiss, who seemed more concerned with the platform's other occupants. While there wasn't a lot, the few people who were there either seemed uneasy or were shooting glares in their direction.

"Don't let them bother you," Ruby told her partner. She had been in the middle of a few situations like this one while on her own missions.

The stigma that came with being a huntress had shifted slightly during the war, or at least had in certain places. Their numbers were limited, especially when put against how Grimm activity had increased as Salem grew in power. There simply wasn't enough huntresses to spare, and some smaller towns and villages had suffered because of that fact.

Holzfäller seemed to be one of those towns, likely having been raided by Grimm at some point during the war. The people had obviously survived, but were also in the process of recovering. The sight of a team of huntresses that _hadn't _been around to defend them probably wasn't a pleasant one.

"I'm not," Weiss replied as she averted her gaze from onlookers. "I just think that someone should point out to them that they weren't the only ones to lose things during the war."

"Yeah, I'm sure they would _love_ to hear all about that," Yang commented sarcastically.

"I'm just saying that they could learn to show a little respect."

"Do you ever get tired of talking with your nose in the air?"

"Yang..." Ruby scolded, before a thought popped into her head and a smirk found its way to her face. "You know that's the only way Weiss can look people in the eye when she speaks."

Weiss' attention and frustration snapped over to Ruby. "You are _one_ inch taller than I am!"

"And don't you forget it," Ruby replied in a sing-song voice. Making Weiss angry was always a calculated risk, as there was always the possibility of the attempt completely backfiring on her. In this instance, however, it seemed to have payed off, having distracted the former heiress from what was bothering her.

Ruby wouldn't have to worry about immediate retaliation either, as it was at that moment that train finally came to halt at the platform. She looked at her two teammates and her sister in particular. The moment of truth was coming.

It took all of two seconds to spot Blake, as she was one of just a handful of people to step off the train. As the faunus spotted the three of them, Ruby jogged over to greet her.

"Blake!" Ruby called out as she wrapped her arms around her, causing Blake to drop the small amount of luggage she was carrying. "Hi."

"Hey, Fearless Leader," Blake said as she hugged Ruby back, or at least tried to. Ruby's hug was currently keeping her from raising her arms.

"I'm just glad you're here!" Ruby stepped away from Blake and looked back at Weiss and Yang. While she was genuinely happy to see Blake, the degree to which she was displaying her enthusiasm was more for their benefit. She had learned pretty early into her career as team leader that acting warm and innocent helped dispel tension amongst them, as the other three often hated to ruin her good moods.

Well, Weiss didn't seem to mind doing so at first, but it wasn't long before Ruby learned that puppy-dog eyes were her partner's greatest weakness.

"I'll bet," Blake replied before looking beyond Ruby. Her eyes settled on Weiss first. "Schnee."

"Scoundrel," Weiss deadpanned with crossed arms, before allowing a small smile to appear on her face. "How's life as a bureaucrat been treating you?"

"It has its perks," Blake answered casually. "What's it feel like to work for a living?"

"Enlightening." Weiss seemed to relax a bit more. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you're here too."

Though she was glad to see things between Weiss and Blake were pretty much the same, it wasn't them that Ruby had been worried about. All eyes trained on the one member of the team who hadn't spoken yet.

"Hey, Yang..." Blake said nervously.

"Hey," Yang replied, sounding almost dismissive. She didn't even bother to pull her hands from her pockets to wave. "Let's get going. Uncle Qrow's not gonna find himself."

Yang walked off without another word. Weiss shook her head while Blake slowly picked up her bag. They moved to follow Yang, leaving Ruby alone with her thoughts for a split second.

On the one hand, Yang and Blake's reunion hadn't been the blowout she had anticipated. That said, Ruby couldn't figure out why she felt as though what she had just seen was worse in some way.

* * *

Team RWBY left the train station in silence and continued to their next destination. While they currently seemed unsure about how to proceed, that did not necessarily mean they were not a threat.

Greger moved quickly, but also carefully along the rooftops as he attempted to trail his targets. The exosuit he currently wore rendered him invisible to the naked eye, but he knew better than to assume he was undetectable. Among the group was a faunus whose more potent senses could potentially see through his guise if he didn't keep his distance.

Then again, perhaps this wasn't the case. Greger recalled the information on Team RWBY that had been given to him in anticipation of their potential arrival.

Blake Belladonna, while described as precise and hyper-lethal during the war, had ceased all huntress activity upon its end. She was likely out of practice when it came to combat, and while Greger knew better than to underestimate a target, he also felt confident in labeling her as the least notable threat before him.

Objectively, Yang Xiao Long should have been his greatest concern. She was considered by many to be the team's best fighter, and her semblance could bestow upon her physical strength far beyond that of any normal human. That said, she seemed distracted at the moment, so perhaps there was a weakness there that could be exploited.

Then there was Weiss Schnee, the former heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. Her semblance, the Schnee family's signature Glyphs, seemed to be her greatest asset due to the multiple ways they could be utilized in a fight. Still, Greger wasn't quite as ready as _certain_ individuals to dismiss the threat she could pose without her semblance. She had managed to persevere despite having everything she knew taken from her. That was the trait of a fighter if Greger had ever seen one.

That left the team's leader, Ruby Rose. She had been Qrow Branwen's star pupil _before _ever attending Beacon, and was said to be a master scythe-wielder just like him. Her speed and unorthodox tactics would definitely be difficult to overcome in a straight fight, and the silver eyes she inherited from her mother could prove to be a problem to later stages of their plan. Still, all of Ozpin's top students had weaknesses if you studied them closely enough, and Greger knew that these would soon present themselves.

He continued to keep pace with them and watch them closely, despite knowing their current destination. There was still one member of their group that was unaccounted for, who was currently being watched over by Greger's partner.

Taiyang Xiao Long's presence in this scenario had not been anticipated. The former member of Team STRQ seemed to have been looking for leads while Team RWBY reassembled itself. He was a bit of a wild card here, having been mostly retired for years but still possessing a reputation to match the other members of his team.

Almost on cue, a status light on Greger's HUD turned green, indicating that his partner was ready to move. He responded with an orange light, hoping this would convince her to wait.

They had been told to operate at their own discretion, which to Greger meant minimizing civilian casualties. After all, Ozpin was their endgame.

* * *

How Qrow had found his way to this shantytown in the first place was something that Weiss could not figure out. Holzfäller was out of the way enough that Weiss was surprised it even had a train station, so the notion that it held some kind of clue to the current whereabouts of Hazel Rainart was a foreign notion to her.

The state of the town didn't help her opinion of it. While she was more than aware that this was mainly due to the Grimm attack the people had survived, that knowledge didn't make Holzfäller anymore pleasant to look at. Tooth and claw marks were still scattered throughout, and plenty of buildings were outright missing pieces of their walls and roofs. Adding the fact that recent rainfall had turned the town's dirt roads into mud, and that equated to a place that Weiss was quite eager to leave.

Not that she was going let her opinions prevent her team from completing a thorough investigation of the town. A huntress never let working conditions affect her work ethic, and Weiss had been subject to far worse than this place.

In all honesty, Weiss was more concerned about her teammates impeding their progress than Holzfäller and its people. Blake, who rarely let her nerves get the better of her, seemed uneasy and unable to take her eyes off her partner. Yang, on the other hand, kept her eyes forward and didn't look back at anyone.

Then there was Ruby, who had just jogged forward and positioned herself in between the two. She made eye-contact with Weiss, and her well-meaning and determined silver eyes told Weiss exactly what she intended to do.

_Not now_, Weiss tried to communicate by shaking her head and glaring in Ruby's direction.

_Why not?_ Ruby "replied" with a shrug as her eyes darted back and forth between Yang and Blake.

_Too much baggage to unpack right now._

Ruby looked at the ground for a couple seconds, obviously considering Weiss' suggestion. She then waved a dismissive arm in the air, leaving Weiss a bit irritated. She knew her advice was about to go ignored.

"So..." Ruby began as she turned to Blake. "Bet you're missing Menagerie right about now."

Blake hesitated before answering, likely having been lost in thought up until that moment. "A little bit. Weather was certainly nicer down there when I left."

"Probably not as many strangers giving you nasty looks either." Ruby divided her attention between her teammate and the people they walked by.

"You'd be surprised." Blake smirked at the notion. "Part of working in politics means that there's always someone who hates your guts."

"Still, I appreciate you making the trip up here." Despite her ulterior motive for this conversation, Weiss knew that Ruby's words were genuine. "I know it's not easy to just up and leave your family behind."

"Well, you're my family too. Besides, I've got Sun to look after my parents while I'm gone."

"I'm surprised he didn't follow you here," Weiss commented, having decided that there was no longer any point in staying completely silent. "I remember him having trouble sitting still."

"He still does." Blake smiled sentimentally before continuing. "It helps to leave him with something to do. Honestly, the reason he's probably lasted this long in Menagerie is because he's always busy."

"I'm just surprised he can be trusted with _any_ kind of job," Weiss replied, _mostly_ joking.

To Blake's credit, she didn't let Weiss' comments affect her mood. "You can trust him with a lot of things."

"Yeah, I bet," Yang muttered suddenly.

All of Team RWBY came to a halt at the comment, though Yang still didn't turn around. Weiss looked between Ruby and Blake, with the latter once again unable to look away from Yang.

"Is something wrong, Yang?" Blake asked. The difference now, though, was that her nervousness was gone.

"I was just agreeing with you," Yang answered as she finally turned around. If the tone of her voice didn't betray jealousy, her eyes did. Weiss could have sworn she saw them turn a light shade of red before settling on their usual lilac. "I'm sure you trust him with a lot of things."

"Oh, boy..." Ruby said softly. She knew what was coming, which was one of the reasons Weiss didn't gloat about being right.

"It sounded like you were trying to say something else," Blake pointed out, slight hint of venom in her voice.

"No, I meant what I said," Yang countered without changing her tone. "I'm sure he'll _super _responsible with your parents and whatever kids the two of you have."

"Good, because he would be." Blake obviously didn't want to argue with Yang, but also didn't want to be her punching bag.

"Question: Will those kids have cat ears, monkey tails, or both?"

"Yang!" Ruby yelled in shock, for which Weiss could hardly blame her. Her own father liked to wear his racism like a badge of honor, but even she had been caught off guard by Yang's comment.

To whatever little credit Yang still had after that outburst, however, she recoiled a bit. She made no immediate follow up statement, though she still held her ground.

"Are you done?" Blake asked, someone managing to both calmer and angrier at the same time.

Yang remained silent, only staring back and waiting for Blake to continue.

"I'm not doing this with you, Yang. Not here and not now." Blake didn't break eye-contact either. "This mission is _not _about you."

"I guess nothing ever is," Yang responded, now looking away from everyone else.

Despite still having the high ground in the argument as far as Weiss was concerned, Blake still let the Yang's words get to her. Her cat ears drooped downwards and she wrapped her arms around herself.

Apparently, Blake wasn't the only one affected by the exchange. Looking a bit defeated, Ruby pulled a flask and began to unscrew the cap.

Perhaps a little on edge as well, Weiss let her instincts take over at that second. She reached over to Ruby and snatched the flask right out of her hand.

"What are you doing?" Weiss demanded.

"What's it look like?" Ruby shot back as tried to take the flask back.

Weiss kept it out of her reach, however, and backed a few steps away from her partner. "We're on mission!"

"And I'm just taking a sip, not binge-drinking!"

Ruby dove forward, but Weiss knew her partner well enough to anticipate this. She summoned a glyph at just the right place and time, causing Ruby to bounce off it and be thrown into the mud at their feet.

"Just give it back, Weiss," Ruby growled as she sat herself upright.

It was a simple enough request, especially considering the conditions they found themselves in. Blake and Yang were at odds, and Weiss found it difficult to come up with a logical reason for putting a wedge between herself and her own partner.

Still, Weiss felt her instincts again overriding what was logical for this situation. While she couldn't give an exact reason why she carried out her next action, it didn't make her feel any less justified in her decision.

Perhaps her actions boiled down to her past experiences with her mother, who had basically drowned her sorrows in alcohol upon learning Weiss' father had only married her for the family name. In that instant, she let one single person be the root cause of her pain, despite there still being people who actually did love her. Weiss certainly didn't want to relive any of that with Ruby.

Then again, it could have simply been the growing void between Blake and Yang that Weiss had just witnessed firsthand. Blake had moved to the other side of the world, and Yang was doing an exceptionally terrible job at hiding how much this had hurt her. Maybe Ruby would end up hating Weiss for trying to insert herself into her business, but Weiss conceded that she would rather that be the case than leave her best friend to her own self-destructive devices.

Or at least Weiss wouldn't leave Ruby on her own _again_, anyway.

In the end, Weiss' reasons seemed unimportant, especially after she was done pouring the contents of Ruby's flask onto the ground.

"It's all yours," Weiss said as she dropped the empty container on Ruby's lap and walked away.

She wouldn't get to be alone with her thoughts for very, however, as Yang jogged over to her to stop her.

"You know you're not supposed to do that, right?" Yang asked. Despite the argument she had just been a part of as well as what she had just watched happen to her sister, she didn't sound angry. It was more like she was trying to explain to Weiss how to deal with alcoholism. "When they quit, it's supposed to be their choice."

"How well has that been working so far?" Weiss argued quietly, looking backwards as she did.

Blake was currently helping Ruby back to her feet, who herself was trying to wipe the mud from her cloak. Ruby looked at Weiss briefly, but turned away so quickly that Weiss couldn't tell if her reluctance to make eye-contact was out of bitterness or shame. Both hurt Weiss to see, but she once again reminded herself that she had agreed to pay that price.

"What are you guys doing out here?" the voice of Taiyang Xiao Long called out to them. Weiss turned back around just as the huntsman made it to them.

"It's nothing, Dad," Yang answered first, though Weiss was sure all of them shared that sentiment.

"Nothing, huh?" Taiyang crossed his arms and looked the entire team over. "So there's _another_ team of huntresses fighting in the middle of Main Street?"

"It's fine," Ruby reiterated as she and Blake rejoined the group. "Did you find anything?"

Taiyang waited before answering, almost as though he wasn't ready to finish their conversation. He didn't push any further, however, and instead motioned for them to follow him to a nearby alley.

"No one's seen him," Taiyang stated once they were out of sight. "Or at least that's what they claim."

"You have another theory?" Weiss questioned.

"More like a feeling. Something about this place just isn't sitting right with me."

"Sounds like our best bet for now is to lay low and wait for Raven," Ruby suggested.

"Raven's gonna be here too?" Blake asked. She looked to Yang who was back to ignoring her.

"So we were told," Weiss answered, though she wasn't counting on the woman's presence here.

"She said she would be here," Taiyang affirmed.

"How much has her word been worth in the past?" Yang asked her father, though she wouldn't get an answer.

Weiss was the second person to realize something was amiss, but that was only because she had happened to look in Blake's direction. Her cat ears were twitching, with her faunus senses likely having detected something abnormal. Whatever or whoever it was, Weiss wouldn't get a chance to ask.

"Get down!" Blake called out, almost too late to do any good.

A shot rang out, and a large projectile came barreling in their direction. Taiyang caught the brunt of it, the force of the impact and explosion sending him flying through a nearby wall. Between diving for cover and the dust and smoke that was kicked up, Weiss lost track of the rest of her team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So some quick acknowledgments about the flashback that opens the chapter...
> 
> First off, use of flashbacks is a last minute addition to this story, and I was a little stuck on how to implement them at first. Not only as far as just how they work with the rest of the story, but also the actual formatting of them. Seems like a small and trivial thing to get stuck on (because it is), but I wanted it to be instantly obvious that these scenes were different than the others, and for whatever reason I wasn't feeling throwing up an "X years ago" slug on top. I ended up resolving both issues by looking to SimplyKorra's The Foxtrot. To summarize, flashbacks will be completely italicized, and will only show up where appropriate rather than in every chapter.
> 
> Also, the flashback itself is very similar a fan comic I saw on tumblr a while back ("Ruby's Beginnings" might have been the title, but don't quote me on that), by Ellelehman (Elleusive on this site if I'm not mistaken). While I wasn't thinking of this comic while writing that scene, I would feel guilty if I didn't give it a shout out, as it was likely subconscious inspiration for what I did here.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of advice: If you're the kind of writer who doesn't enjoy writing fight scenes and have to walk away from a story for an extended period of time, don't walk away right before a chapter that's almost completely comprised of fight scenes. It will effect your momentum and motivation when it comes to returning to said story.

Despite all the past lives she had led, Blake could never adjust to being in the middle of an explosion. She blamed her own heightened senses. What she widely considered to be her greatest advantage over her human teammates became her greatest weakness as said senses were overwhelmed by the resulting stimuli.

Blake pushed through said stimuli, though, scanning the alley in order to get her bearings. Weiss shifted from her spot in the rubble, not unconscious but also not having recovered. Her attention was quickly drawn away from the former heiress by the unmistakable sound of Crescent Rose's mechanisms coming to life.

Ruby held her scythe in attack position, having already turned her attention in the direction the projectile had originated from. Blake followed Ruby's eye-line to a nearby rooftop, finding a figure with a primed grenade launcher staring back at them. The figure, covered head-to-toe in Atlas tech, waited a second before turning and retreating in the opposite direction. Ruby, obviously without thinking, disappeared in a cloud of rose petals and flew after them.

Blake's first instinct was to follow, knowing that Team RWBY's leader would likely need backup. This line of thought was cut short, however, by the team's last member bursting from the rubble.

"Where?" Yang growled, her eyes the deep red that indicated her semblance was active.

Blake would have gestured in Ruby's direction had she not heard the sound of a weapon's safety being clicked off through the ringing in her ears. Reflexes kicked in, with her diving forward and knocking Yang back to the ground to keep the spray of bullets from making contact. Both of them immediately looked upward for their would-be assailant, finding a second figure brandishing a pistol and wearing armor identical to the first. Also like the first, they turned and ran.

"I'm going after them!" Yang called out as she pushed herself away from Blake.

"Alone?" Blake immediately questioned, having instantly known her intent from the tone of her voice.

"You're out of practice, and-"

"I am _not_ out of practice!"

"_And _I need someone to check on Dad!" Yang barely turned around as she spoke, already moving to pursue her target. "Just listen to me, for once!" Yang didn't bother to add to that last thought as she was soon out of sight.

"You can argue with her later," Weiss said as she finally stood upright. She drew Myrtenaster as she started to walk forward "Now we have to focus."

"And where are you going?" Blake asked, aware that she was being a bit more impatient than she normally would be.

"To make sure a certain dolt doesn't do anything stupid." Weiss' speed glyphs lit up under her and soon she was gone.

Blake took a deep breath, knowing that someone needed to keep a level head to keep this fight from spinning out of control. She turned to a hole in a nearby wall, deciding that doing as Yang asked and checking on her father would likely do less harm than good.

* * *

Ruby slammed into her target as they lept between buildings, causing them to crash into the muddy road below. Ruby managed to get her bearings just in time to land on her feet, immediately training her vision on her opponent after that. Good thing she did, as the assassin tried to bring up their grenade launcher again as they tried to stand.

"No thank you!" Ruby yelled as she snapped Crescent Rose to her rifle mode. She fired a single round that knocked the launcher from the assassin's hand. "I've done with having stuff blow up in my face!"

"We'll see," the assassin replied calmly, her voice somewhat distorted by her helmet. Gaze moving from her launcher to Ruby, she finally opted to reach for her melee weapon. "Your team isn't exactly a cohesive unit right now."

"Yeah, well..." Ruby racked her brain for a good comeback. "... we'll see about that too." Her response must have been really effective, because her opponent charged as soon as her weapon was fully brandished.

Ruby grinned upon seeing that the assassin's weapon of choice was a rapier of some kind. If there was one kind of opponent that Ruby had experience fighting, it was fighters who favored that kind of sword. First and foremost, the assassin would be aiming for precision, and for that she would need to get in close.

Without thinking, Ruby pushed herself backwards and out of the way of her opponent's first strike. She followed this movement up by effortlessly swinging her scythe around, connecting with her opponent's sword and knocking her off balance.

Ruby pressed her advantage, closing the distance between them. The assassin managed to parry Ruby's first strike, but wasn't fast enough to anticipate Ruby's follow up. Ruby brought Crescent Rose around again, hitting her opponent with her scythe's shaft and sending her flying off to the side.

Satisfied, Ruby brought her scythe to rest on her shoulder. As tempted as she was to gloat, she knew there was a time and place for that. Instead, she put on her serious face.

"We don't have to fight like this," Ruby tried to reason. "Just surrender and we can talk about this."

"Because that's what Ozpin trained you to do, right?" the assassin countered. "Talk?"

The response surprised Ruby, but she wouldn't get a chance to ask for clarification. Whether it had been on purpose or by accident, the assassin had landed next to her grenade launcher and had brought it around one more time.

Ruby anticipated the first pull of the trigger and dodged to the side, letting the projectile land _almost_ harmlessly in the middle of the road. No one was hurt, but any onlookers that remained screamed and scattered.

Ruby mentally kicked herself as she watched them flee, disappointed that she had managed to forget about the civilians. This disappointment doubled when she noticed that the assassin had just had the same realization. With _maybe_ a second of consideration, she turned the launcher on a pair children who had chosen not to run away.

Instinctively, Ruby triggered her semblance, throwing herself in between the children and the grenade at the very last second. Luckily for her, her aura absorbed most of the blast before it broke. Unluckily for her, she was left vulnerable for a moment. By the time she came to, she had a sword pointed in her face.

"I thought you were done with stuff blowing up," the assassin taunted. Whoever she was under the mask, Ruby was convinced she kicked puppies in her spare time.

Ruby didn't stress herself with making up a comeback this time, though, due to a familiar white light appearing nearby. Said light then took on the shape of a Deathstalker, which grabbed hold of the assassin and ripped her away from Ruby.

"What was that about not needing supervision again?" Weiss asked in the condescending way that only she could.

* * *

"Mr. Xiao Long!" Blake called as she stepped through the hole and into the decrepit building. "Are you okay?"

"Not if you keep me calling that," came a reply from a shifting pile of rubble. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Weiss: just 'Tai' is fine."

Blake smirked before moving towards the elder Xiao Long to see if he needed help. He sat up as she got closer, revealing himself to be essentially unharmed.

"You don't look injured," Blake pointed out.

"I'd hope not," Tai replied as he dusted himself off. "Semblance should of caught whatever my aura didn't."

"What _is_ your semblance exactly?" The topic had never come up in any conversation she had had with either Yang or Ruby.

"I'm pyrokinetic, which comes with a side of being fireproof." Tai strained as he picked himself. "Any damage is from old age, not the explosion."

"We should probably get moving then."

"Let me guess... Ruby _and _Yang both tore off after our attacker."

"Attack_ers_," Blake corrected as they moved back outside. "There were at least two of them, both using Atlas tech."

"Well, we knew that was a possibility." Tai paused for second as he stared off into the distance, likely to listen to the sounds of battle going on.

"Weiss went after Ruby," Blake stated, hoping it would alleviate any worry he might have.

"Which means we should follow Yang," Tai replied with resolve.

"Of course, she was doing her best to make it seem like she didn't want any help." If Blake sounded more annoyed than worried, it was unintentional.

"Is that gonna stop us?" Tai grinned, his tone making it clear he knew how she felt.

"No," Blake answered as she unsheathed Gambol Shroud. "She makes stupid decisions when she's hurting."

"You should go on ahead then. I bet you can get there quicker if you're not waiting on me."

Blake didn't try to disagree. If speed and stealth were something that Tai specialized in, he likely would have passed them on to Yang. She simply nodded instead, and started to move. The noise of the fight got more erratic as Blake got closer, which did _not_ fill her with confidence about how Yang was handling herself.

* * *

Yang whipped around a street corner, using the streetlight at the corner to slow her turning speed and then propel herself forward. The group's second assailant was still in her sight and only _just _out of her reach. Enough was already going wrong that day, so she wasn't about to let them escape.

Her target had occasionally taken chances to look back at her, likely to gauge their chances of making a clean getaway. Probably realizing how slim their chances were, they finally turned around and dropped down to street-level.

"You're persistent," a male voice said through the helmet's voice filter.

"It's one of my better traits," Yang quipped as she brought up Ember Silica for her usual fighting stance.

"I doubt Belladonna would agree."

"Excuse me?" Yang barely had a chance to yell her response before her opponent had charged forward, swinging around some kind of high-tech rapier he had drawn.

Yang didn't attempt to dodge, instead blocking the blade with her right arm. Aura or not, she knew her prosthetic's metal alloy could withstand the strike. With the assassin now well within her striking range, she drew her left arm back for a counterattack and then threw her fist forward. The assassin seemed to anticipate this, however, dodging to the side as her gauntlet barely grazed against him.

"Would you hold still?" Yang could feel the heat from her semblance building up even further.

"Hearsay is that that's a request you make often."

"Don't you psychoanalyze me!" Yang shot forward and brought her fist down hard. She missed again, though this time it was intentional. The impact left a small crater, the formation of which caused her opponent to lose his footing.

Yang moved to follow up, but the assassin simply dropped to the ground to dodge the punch. Her eyes followed him downward, in time to watch him slash at her leg with his sword. She fell to a knee, and soon he was the one standing over her.

"Will you yield?" The assassin pointed the sword closer to her face.

Yang glared back at him. "If you know me as well as you think you do, you know the answer."

The assassin shook his head before lifting his sword to strike again. Yang didn't move, only flinching when she realized Gambol Shroud had intercepted the blade.

* * *

Weiss marched forward, putting herself in between Ruby and the Deathstalker she had summoned. She glanced back at the former, looking for some kind of response to her previous question. The bitter look on Ruby's face made her wish that she hadn't.

"I know what I'm doing," was all Ruby said before turning away.

A clenching feeling forming in her chest, Weiss had to turn away as well. She tried reminding herself she had already made peace with the possibility of Ruby resenting her, but that still felt like a lie at this point. Not that Weiss had the time to dwell on these feelings. Remembering the advice she had just given Yang, she refocused on Team RWBY's would-be assailant.

"Who are you working for?" Weiss asked, both quietly and sternly.

"Do you really think I have anything to say to you?" the assassin asked back. Even through her helmet's voice filter, Weiss could tell she was young, possibly younger than herself and her teammates.

"I think you have quite a bit to say to us." Weiss slowly closed her right hand, with the Deathstalker tightening its grip on the assassin in response. While she unfamiliar with the exosuit model her captive was wearing, she was sure it could take amount of pressure the claw was currently applying. Still, the young assassin didn't have to know that.

The assassin groaned and squirmed as her armor bent and cracked. Weiss tried not to let her conscience get the better of her, knowing what this girl's earlier intentions had been. She was in control and knew how far she could push things.

Or at least she _was_ in control, right up to the moment when the Deathstalker disappeared, dropping the assassin's at her feet. Weiss allowed herself to be surprised for a couple seconds before admitting to herself what had happened.

"Low on aura?" the assassin taunted as she picked herself up. She was correct, of course. A significant portion of Weiss' aura had been drained while absorbing the earlier explosion.

"It won't help your chances," Weiss replied as she brought Myrtenaster forward. Her aura levels would only be a small hindrance, as she still had all her other training to fall back on.

The assassin charged first, swinging and jabbing her rapier wildly and randomly. Thankfully and a bit ironically, this style of fighting actually made her predictable in Weiss' eyes. She had fought enough opponents that she could easily spot one who was untrained and sloppy.

Weiss dodged and deflected where necessary, knowing that an opening would show itself. Eventually, it did.

One of the assassin's swings left her footing particularly exposed, giving Weiss the opportunity to drive Myrtenaster into ground. Having already cycled her dust chambers to one containing gravity dust, she pulled the trigger. The blast knocked the assassin upwards and ended with her landing on her backside, struggling to get to her feet.

"That's hardly proper form," Weiss pointed out.

"Proper form is overrated," the assassin countered, swinging her sword one more time as she did.

The difference between this swing and all the others, however, was that the blade segmented and split apart into pieces all connected by a chain. The blade wrapped itself around Myrtenaster, pulling it from Weiss' hand and tossing it aside.

Weiss berated herself for not anticipating her opponent's counterattack, but this frame of mind would only last until the second swing of the sword. The chain-blade lashed Weiss across the chest, finally breaking her aura and sending her flying backwards. Before she knew it, she was at the assassin's mercy.

"I was hoping I'd be the one to gut the Schnee brat," she muttered to no one in particular. She raised her sword to strike before pausing to raise a finger to her ear. "Now? But I'm in the middle of-"

Her conversation was cut off by Ruby, the scythe-wielder slamming into her with as much force as could given that her aura was depleted and that she was dragging her weapon around with her. The assassin staggered backwards as Ruby brought her scythe up into a defensive position.

The assassin stared them down for a second before reaching for a grenade on her belt. "She won't be around to save you next time, Schnee."

The flash-bang went off, leaving Weiss and Ruby unable to prevent their new enemy's escape.

* * *

Yang looked up and made eye contact with Blake. The mutual feeling between the two of them seemed to be that neither of them were ready to speak to the other yet, so Yang stood back up without a single word. The two of them both focused their attention on their shared opponent.

"Give up," Blake instructed. "You're outnumbered."

"Which might actually _help_ my chances in this case," the assassin replied with next to no emotion.

He broke off from his clash with Blake and jumped backwards. Yang and Blake both charged after him, which was probably their first mistake in retrospect. Usually the pair of them would time their attacks to keep their opponents off balance, but that obviously wasn't going to be the case here. Attacking at the same time from the same direction meant their opponent would have an easier time dodging. They were out of sync, and Yang knew there would be consequences for this.

For starters, the assassin dodged as Yang had predicted. Secondly, it meant neither of them were able to cover the other he counterattacked. He drew his sidearm and opened fire on Blake. While her aura seemed to absorb the bullets, she went down all the same.

Yang knew she'd end up the same way if she sat still. She threw her left fist forward, firing a shell that hit true and knocked the pistol from the assassin's hand. She chose to press her advantage, leaping towards her enemy with the intent of delivering a powerful right hook.

The kink in that plan was her opponent's readiness for his attack. The blade of his sword collapsed into a kind chain-whip as he reeled back and cast it forward. The blade wrapped itself around Yang's right arm and, before Yang could even try to pull free, released an electric shock that coursed up and down her arm.

The blade released and Yang's arm fell limply to her side. She tried to move it, but the sword had somehow completely shorted out her prosthetic.

Yang's instincts were to ignore the loss and keep on fighting. After all, she was more than capable of fighting with one hand. Unfortunately, her half a second's worth of hesitation was half a second too long, as her opponent's weapon was soon flying back towards her.

The blade stopped just short of her face, however, having wrapped itself around another blade instead. It took a Yang second to realize that the blade in question wasn't that of Gambol Shroud, but that of another weapon.

Yang followed the blood-red blade to its hilt, before her eyes wandered to its owner. She found herself only looking at jet-black hair, however, as this individual was currently staring down the assassin.

"I'm giving you one chance to retreat, child," they commanded. "I would accept this offer before it expires."

The assassin stared at the new huntress for a few seconds, awe seeming to show even from behind his face-mask. He eventually retracted his blade before turning tale and running away.

Yang wanted to pursue, but stopped once she found herself looking into the red eyes of her mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, always confused by the naming of Ember Silica. Are they considered one and the same? Is Yang's prosthetic considered Ember if they are two separate gauntlets?
> 
> Also, for picking Taiyang's semblance, I took inspiration from the lack of clarity around Yang's semblance back in Vol. 1. As for his weapon... I haven't decided that yet.


	6. Chapter 6

Ruby and Weiss found their way back to the rest of their group with little difficulty. Yang and Blake's fight, however well or poorly it had gone, had caused just as much damage as their own, so they had an easy trail to follow. Eventually they found their team's brawler and scout, sitting off to the side of the road.

Of course, this sight was also what told Ruby that their troubles were far from over. Neither Yang nor Blake even attempted to look at each other, and while this wasn't exactly a surprise based on the day they had been having so far, it made it pretty clear that their fight had gone poorly as well.

Blake stared at the ground in front of her, seeming a little surprised when she finally looked up and saw Ruby and Weiss standing over her. Normally, her senses meant she would have heard them coming long before they were basically on top of her, which meant she had been lost in her own head. Other than that, though, Blake didn't give off much emotion, meaning Ruby couldn't be completely sure what she was thinking about.

Yang was a bit easier to read. She grumbled under her breath as she poked at her detached prosthetic arm with a screwdriver, which seemed to be a difficult task given her handicap and the environment she had chosen to perform this maintenance in.

"You want me to take a look at that?" Ruby offered, though she was sure she knew what her sister's answer would be.

"No." Yang didn't bother to look up from what she was doing. "I'll figure it out for myself."

"What happened?" Weiss asked neither of them in particular.

"Our new friend had a few more tricks than we thought," Blake answered. "And you?"

"We had a similar experience." Weiss paused for split second, as she usually did when she was considering something. "Whoever she was, she knew who we were, and she was going for the kill. Then she got some kind of call and just left."

"That call was probably from our guy. He took off when..." Blake trailed off, almost hesitant to finish her story.

"Oh, just say her name!" Yang snapped. She still didn't look up, but she gestured at the alleyway behind her with her good arm.

Ruby followed the gesture, finding Raven Branwen talking to Taiyang in the alley's shadows. Her older sister's worsened mood suddenly made a lot more sense.

"Yang..." Ruby began, only for Yang's left hand to shoot up in response.

"Save it. If anything, I'm _glad_ she's here. We can wrap this up quickly and go home."

"Then I'll go see what we're waiting on." Ruby knew better than to push the issue, so she walked past her teammates and into the alley.

Without hesitation, Weiss fell in step behind her, which split Ruby's attention for half a second. Part of her wanted to speak up and tell Weiss she wanted some space after their last argument, but she chose to keep those feelings to herself. Weiss had been right about one thing: a mission wasn't the time or place to unpack that baggage.

Also, the walk to their destination wasn't exactly long enough for a heart-to-heart discussion. They were no more than halfway there before they could hear the debate going on.

"Are you seriously lecturing _me_ about being reckless?" Tai asked with genuine confusion.

"It's an objective assessment," Raven stated calmly. "We have no intel on what we're walking into."

"Hey, _you're _the ex-spymaster. This is right up your alley."

"Tai, they're not ready for another fight."

"Well, we don't need to fight," Ruby chimed in, not needing to guess what the two were talking about. "We just gotta open a portal, grab Dad, and get the heck out."

"And we might be able to obtain some information at the same time," Weiss added.

Raven turned to face them, her eyes locking on Ruby briefly before turning away again. "Very well."

By this point, Blake and Yang had rejoined the group, the latter keeping her prosthetic tucked under her left arm. Ruby understood Raven's concerns, and even shared them to some degree. She knew the current state of her team, but she had to believe they could recover and face whatever lay ahead.

The former Spring Maiden drew her sword, Omen, and positioned herself to activate her semblance. Moving precisely, she swung her blade at the open air in front of her, energy emitting from crackling in its wake.

Though no portal formed, with the energy instead fizzling and dissipating. For a few seconds, the entire group remained still and quiet, as though they were all waiting for something to change.

"Raven..." Tai began, only to be interrupted by the woman in question repeating her previous motion only to get the same result.

"What's wrong?" Blake was the first to ask.

"The portal's not opening," Raven answered without turning to face them.

"Yeah, b-but why?" Ruby asked nervously. Her mind flooded itself with different emotions and explanations, with one in particular recurring quite a bit. She stuffed that thought back where it came from, trying to replace it with a different idea. She wanted to be hopeful, partly for group morale, but mainly because she had no idea how she would react if Raven confirmed what her subconscious was currently dreading.

"I'm can't say for certain." Raven paused, examining her blade and the air in front of her before turning to face Ruby. "But the most likely reason is that Qrow is dead."

"Oh."

* * *

Greger finally paused his retreat, knowing that he needed to make sure he wasn't being followed. Coming to a halt on a sturdy branch of one of the forest's massive trees, he took a few seconds to survey his surroundings.

The forest was calm, and his exosuit's sensors weren't picking up anything abnormal. Greger looked directly back at the direction he had come from, the town of Holzfäller now out of sight. He had stayed on the mission's predetermined path, which had been plotted to minimize the trail that could be left behind in case of a scenario like the one he currently found himself in. Given what he was able to observe from his vantage point, he felt confident that he wasn't followed.

He was about to continue onward when his suit's motion tracker pinged something moving right towards him. Greger was immediately on guard, though he relaxed somewhat when an exosuit identical to his own came to a rest next to him. The one thing that kept him a little on edge was the person inside the suit, who turned to face him with obvious intent.

"I had them!" Hana snapped.

Greger didn't flinch. "Keep your voice down."

"Oh, I wasn't followed," she growled back, though she did so with a lower tone. "And if I was, it's because you told me to leave while they were still breathing."

"That wasn't the mission."

"I disagree."

"It's not a matter of opinion." Greger took a step forward. "Our objective was reconnaissance, which doesn't involve attacking our targets when unprovoked, or using live ammunition and explosives around innocent bystanders."

Hana crossed her arms. "None of which were hurt."

"Are you sure about that?"

Hana hesitated, which told Greger that her claim wasn't a completely accurate one. The only real question was whether she was outright lying or if she genuinely didn't know if she had hurt anyone.

"It doesn't matter now," Hana said dismissively. "We can sort it out once we're home."

She leapt away, and Greger didn't waste much time before following. They traveled in silence after that, both more interested in just reaching their destination. Eventually they emerged from the treeline, exiting at a small gorge that was hiding the Atlas airship they had acquired a couple weeks ago.

The hiding place wasn't exactly inconspicuous. While the vessel possessed cloaking technology similar to his suit, it wasn't going to fool anyone once they got close enough to it. Apparently this wasn't an issue, however, as Greger was often reminded that they wouldn't be remaining here for long whenever he voiced his concerns.

With the click of a button on his wrist, a loading ramp opened and he and Hana entered the ship. Greger wasn't particularly fond of this place, as he found the whole airship to be a cold place. Not so much temperature wise, but more in the typical Atlas fashion of being designed for functionality during wartime. The ship's crates were organized efficiently and neatly, a trait the Atlesian military refused to part with even after Atlas fell at Salem's hands.

Greger pushed these thoughts from his mind, as he didn't have time to ponder the philosophy of soldiers. He turned at the sound of heavy footsteps, knowing he had a report to make.

"Who did he send?" Hazel Rainart asked, in his usual voice that somehow managed to both calm and booming at the same time.

"Team RWBY, like you predicted," Hana answered.

"Not just them," Greger quickly added. "Taiyang Xiao Long and Raven Branwen are with them as well."

Hazel paused, considering the information he had just been given. "It's no matter. We're close enough to our endgame that they won't be able to stop us."

"It'd be less of a matter of they weren't already aware of our presence." Greger looked to Hana as he spoke, not trying to hide his accusation.

Even with her helmet, it was obvious she was glaring back at him. "They don't know any specifics. Just that someone is watching them."

"Which is still more than they would know if you hadn't revealed yourself."

"Well, sometimes that's the price of being preemptive."

"Enough!" Hazel commanded, causing them both to stand at attention. "This situation isn't ideal, but so long as we refrain from drawing more of our enemy's attention _and_ fighting amongst ourselves, the plan will continue as scheduled. Am I being clear?"

Greger looked from Hazel to Hana, and the two exchanged a begrudging nod. Their responses came simultaneously.

"Yes, Father."

"Good," Hazel continued. "Now get some rest. We move on Ozpin in two days."

Hazel stomped off, likely to continue digging through the ship's inventory, which had become his most frequent pastime since it had come into their possession. Greger didn't linger, as he and his twin sister followed the instructions they had been given. One short walk later, they were entering the crew quarters they had appropriated for themselves.

Hana moved towards her bunk and removed her helmet, revealing her tanned skin and short brown hair. Taking off pieces of his own exosuit, it was not lost on Greger how similar they looked both in and out of armor.

The trivial thought didn't occupy his mind for long, however, as their encounter with Team RWBY and the words of his father were taking up more of his attention. Eventually, the urge to speak up won out.

"They will track us here eventually," Greger stated.

"Giving them an awful lot of credit, aren't you?" Hana replied, not hiding her disinterest in the conversation. Rather than look at him, she moved over to the collection of weapons she liked to keep in their quarters, brushing her fingers against them once she got close enough.

Greger crossed his arms. "Or maybe you're not taking the threat they pose seriously?"

"Father knows what he's doing. If he's not worried, then we shouldn't be either."

"And if you're both wrong?"

"Then we'll deal with them like the last huntsman who found us."

With her last statement, Hana attempted to pick up Harbinger, the latest addition to her collection. The size and weight of Qrow Branwen's weapon meant she was barely able to hold it upright, and Greger was not instilled with any confidence by its presence. It had taken their entire family to defeat the weapon's owner, and having to face six others of similar reputation seemed a difficult task at best.

"I doubt it will be that simple," Greger summarized.

"Suit yourself," Hana replied with a shrug. She put Harbinger down and started to leave the room. "I'm going to see if Father needs any help with his work. You can do whatever it is you do to prepare."

Greger let her go without saying another word. His sister was set in her ways, so he knew better than to try and change her mind. Still, his own thoughts hadn't been put at ease. He left the space as well, with the mindset that he might be able to clear his head as he roamed the airship.

Unfortunately, he didn't manage to get very far before he heard a crashing sound coming from the captain's quarters. He moved to the room his parents had taken up residence in, finding his mother standing over a broken glass.

Phaela Rainart barely regarded him as he entered the room, seeming to be more interested in cleaning up her mess. Greger was tempted to just walk away and let her sort things out herself, but pushed the notion away. She was his mother, and thus he had a duty to check on her.

"Are you alright?" Greger asked, not needing her to clarify what had happened. She had obviously been going through the room's contents, and found the previous owners liquor cabinet.

"Are _you_?" Phaela responded once she turned to face him. She was weary, as evidenced by her pale skin and frayed blonde hair. Coupled with her small size, she seemed almost fragile, though Greger knew better than to actually think of her as such.

Greger tried to remain composed. "I'm fine."

"Whatever..." Phaela waved her arm at him. "Don't say I didn't ask."

She always knew when he was lying, an ability outsiders would likely assume was "mother's intuition." In reality, it was her semblance. While she couldn't read minds, she was a powerful empath, able to read how a person was feeling. What was not part of her semblance was the ability to manipulate people based on those emotions. That was a skill she had honed on her own.

"It's nothing," Greger admitted. "I just have concerns about the mission."

"Such as?" Phaela probed.

"Everyone seems bent on sacrificing caution and logic to get to our goal."

Phaela snorted. "Well, contrary to what he believes, your father isn't exactly a logical person. Any line of thought that gets between him and revenge for your poor Aunt Gretchen is a useless one. He seems like he forgets that I was her partner at Beacon. That I actually had to watch her die. Can't let little things like facts get in the way of _his_ crusade."

Greger had heard everything his mother was telling him before, to the point where he was numb to its effects.

"So what should we do?"

Phaela sat down in a chair by the liquor cabinet. "Just wait for this plan to succeed or fail. It's really all we can do."

Greger turned to walk away. "Well, that's not very helpful."

"Look, if you really need something to do, you can bring some food down to our guest. I was going to do it myself, but I got a little..." She looked over at the pile of glass she had _almost_ succeeded in cleaning up. "...sidetracked."

Greger didn't reply, deciding to simply do as he was asked. He went straight to the mess hall to put together something resembling a meal, all the while in deep thought about what was to come in the days ahead.

Even assuming Team RWBY remained the disorganized mess it had been in their last fight, there were some glaring holes in his father's plan. Despite the resources available on the airship, they were still only four people, and Greger had serious doubts about them being enough to breach Beacon's defenses and get to Ozpin. Something needed to change if they were to survive, and he was starting to worry that he would have to take matters into his own hands.

His line of thought brought him all the way to the brig, at which point he decided to clear his mind. Despite the prisoner having his hands shackled on top of being locked in his holding cell, Greger didn't want to give him an opportunity to take advantage of.

"Grub duty again, kid?" the prisoner asked.

"Just luck of the draw, I guess," Greger answered, trying not to pay the man much mind.

"Yeah..." He laughed under his breath. "I know a thing or two about bad luck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I haven't exactly been consistent with updates since I started this story, which was about a year ago at this point. No apologies from me, as that's just how life shakes out sometimes. I also won't make any empty promises about that changing any time soon. Though I will say that, from the beginning, this chapter was always the hurdle to get over, the one I had to get through to get to the parts I started this story to write. We'll see what happens, I guess.


End file.
